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Chapter 29: Is It Already Felton's Twin Detectives?
The oil field was bustling during the day, full of people everywhere.
Theodore and Bernie followed Sam through the winding, maze-like ground to reach the scene.
Work had already resumed here; the workers, wearing dark blue work clothes, were particularly conspicuous on the rusty derricks.
These people seemed to have all trained in tightrope walking at the circus; they moved on top as if on flat ground, occasionally even roughhousing and giving each other shoves.
The foreman, Roy, was a strong big guy; a layer of fat covered his strong muscles, making him appear obese.
After Roy saw Sam, he enthusiastically ran over, greeted Sam warmly first, and then looked at Theodore and Bernie.
"These two are..." Sam introduced, standing between them.
"I know, of course I know who they are!" The fat on Roy's body jiggled, and then he broke into a happy smile and said loudly,
"Our Felton twin detectives!"
"Are you here to investigate Hank's death?"
"That's great! With you here, you'll definitely be able to figure it out!"
Meeting 'fans' in person, Bernie felt a little embarrassed, scratching his head and laughing heartily.
Theodore twitched the corner of his mouth, wondering which low-grade newspaper had come up with this new nickname.
Sam introduced again, "This is Roy Carter, the foreman here, and also the boss of the deceased Hank Wilson."
Roy nodded, "Yes, that's right, exactly!" He sighed and introduced, "Hank Wilson and I have been friends for decades."
"You know about the cold snap in 1926, right?"
Theodore and Bernie exchanged a glance and nodded.
"At that time, both of us were on night watch at the oil field; that's when we met," Roy said, pointing to his foot and then touching his ear. "I lost a toe to frostbite, and Hank's ear was damaged by the cold."
"We hugged each other for warmth so we wouldn't freeze to death."
"Later, I became a foreman and always kept Hank with me; we haven't been apart for decades. Hank isn't just my old buddy; we have a life-or-death friendship."
Roy sighed and then solemnly said, "You must find the murderer who killed Hank."
Bernie and Sam nodded, but Theodore frowned and asked, "How do you know he was murdered and not an accident?"
He pointed to the derrick over thirty feet high. "Anything falling from that height would be enough to kill someone."
Roy's expression seemed a little displeased. After glancing up, he looked at Theodore and said, "If it were an accident, would the Felton twin detectives be here?"
"Officer Sam wouldn't keep investigating either."
Theodore didn't buy it and asked him again, "Someone saw you and the deceased having a heated argument a few days before the incident. What were you arguing about?"
Roy was silent for a moment, then said, "He wanted a wage advance to pay off gambling debts."
He was a little emotional. "Hank worked with me for decades; our families are very familiar with each other, and we even attended each other's weddings."
"I couldn't just watch him ruin his life."
"I didn't agree to the wage advance, and I advised him to stop gambling. He didn't listen, had a big fight with me, and told me to mind my own business."
"Officers, I'm not stupid." He spread his hands. "I'm on your side. With a murderer like that in my crew, I'm very worried about the safety of the others."
"If you need anything from me, come find me."
It seemed Theodore's questioning had displeased him; after saying this, he left.
Bernie stood beside Theodore, staring at Roy's retreating figure with him, and asked, "Is something wrong with him?"
Theodore shook his head and began observing the scene.
Bernie then leaned in close to Sam, and seeing Theodore frown, immediately whispered, acting as a commentator, "He hates a damaged crime scene the most."
He gestured with his hands, saying, "Remember to protect the scene well if you need his help in the future. Don't touch or mess with things inside, wear gloves and shoe covers, and prohibit unauthorized personnel from entering the scene."
Seeing Sam show the same look of confusion as when he first heard it, Bernie shrugged and said in an even quieter voice,
"I suspect the better the scene is protected, the smoother his communication with ghosts will be."
Sam suddenly understood.
After Theodore finished observing, he came over and said to them, "Let's go up and take a look."
Without safety measures, the three people only received three hats before climbing onto the swaying derrick.
A few resting workers were gathered together smoking. Seeing the three walking cautiously, they pointed at them and laughed loudly.
Both Sam and Theodore seemed unaffected, walking slowly and deliberately.
Bernie, however, was not convinced and took two quick steps. He lost his balance and almost fell, immediately grabbing the nearby iron frame.
As a result, the iron frame swayed violently, and even the steel beam under his feet started creaking.
Bernie flailed his hands wildly as if drowning, and it took him a while to regain his balance.
This action again drew a burst of laughter. Bernie, being stubborn, shouted back at the workers.
One of the workers responded loudly, "Detective, hurry up, I'm almost finished with my cigarette!"
Bernie pointed a finger, "You just wait!"
Upon reaching the top level, Bernie went to find the group of workers, while Theodore and Sam walked around, looking everywhere.
Looking down from above, they found the ground situation was even more complex.
Construction waste, tents, machinery, etc., were scattered haphazardly, dividing the ground into a messy maze.
Theodore was sure that even without a night watch, thieves definitely couldn't get into this place, and if they did, they couldn't get out.
Half an hour later, the three walked down. Bernie was laughing happily, holding up an oily cigarette pack to show off to them, "That scoundrel lost this to me!"
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and greetings immediately came from above. He also responded loudly with greetings.
As they walked down, Bernie slowly recounted the information he had gathered from the workers.
"Hank wasn't the good old guy Roy made him out to be," he said. "He was just a rotten gambler."
Sam interjected, "The deceased usually gambled with the workers, and on payday, he would go to the casino."
"People at the casino said the deceased was generous with his money but had terrible luck and never won."
Bernie curled his lip, "If he had good luck, he wouldn't have been murdered."
He continued, "These workers would gamble when they were on night watch. Hank was the most enthusiastic participant; sometimes it wasn't even his night watch, but he would still come over to play a couple of rounds."
"Hank often lost all his money, and even owed money. But after a couple of days, he would always be able to pay it back."
Bernie glanced at Sam, and Sam nodded beside him.
While talking, they reached the ground. Roy ran over and, seeing the oil stains on Bernie, was a little angry.
"Who did this? I'm really sorry, Detective Sullivan, they are a bunch of..."
Bernie waved his hand nonchalantly, indicating it was okay.
Theodore frowned, staring at Roy for a while.
He didn't like this Roy.
According to what he said, he had also climbed from being a worker to the position of foreman step by step, yet he looked down on the workers.
He said he had a good relationship with the deceased; it seemed that statement also needed to be taken with a grain of salt.
Roy had the same hypocrisy as Old Howard, but nowhere near Old Howard's skill.
He was superficially hypocritical.
Theodore didn't want to watch him continue his performance and interrupted directly, "Where are Old Tom and Billy?"
Roy's face turned beet red, and after holding it in for a few seconds, he replied with an awkward laugh, "They both took the day off today."
Theodore nodded and walked straight out.
Bernie had a great time chatting with the workers up there and had already become friends with them. Plus, he naturally disliked hypocritical people, so when he saw Theodore leave, he left too.
Only Sam politely bid farewell to Roy before jogging to catch up.
Back in the car, Theodore shared what he had learned with the other two.
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